Downbeach Express Toll to Increase April 18th

If you use the Downbeach Express (Margate Bridge), get ready to pay a little more.

Starting on April 18th, drivers on the bridge between Margate and Northfield will be paying 25 cents more to cross the causeway as the toll increases to $1.75. Drivers with Express Pass with pay 10 cents more, or $1.30.

According to a press release, the Express Pass rate increase of 10 cents is the first such increase in more than four years, according to David Goddard, President of Ole Hansen and Sons, managing partner of the Margate Bridge Company. The cash rate adjustment is the first in more than seven years.

"The fare increase is made necessary by the high cost of maintaining the four bridges and the more than two miles of roadway that comprise the
Downbeach Express," said Goddard. "These bridges are 85 years old and require continuing upkeep."